Signor to southall bros



UNITED STATES ATENT I Trice.

WILLIAM BRADBURY ROBINSON, OF BRAMPTON, COUNTY OF DERBY, AS- SIGNOB TOSOUTHALL BROS. & BARCLAY, OF BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.

CATAIVIENIAL BAN DAGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 370,415, datedSeptember 27, 1887.

Application filed August 7, 1886. Serial No. 210,376. (No model.)Patented in England February 5, 1884, No. 2,753.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM BRADBURY ROBINSON, a subject of the Queen ofGreat Britain, residing at Brampton, in the county of Derby, England,lint, cotton wool, and bandage manufacturer, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in the Mannfacture of Gatamenial and otherMedical Bandages, (which were patented in Great Britain February 5,1884,'No. 2,753,) of which the fol lowing is a specification Thisinvention has for its object improvements in the manufacture ofcatamenial and other medical bandages.

I first produce tubes of an open gauzelike material, preferably ofcotton. This I do by weaving cloth with alternate strips, double andsingle, lengthwise of the fabric. Where the fabric is double it forms atube, and the warp in the fabric is in the direction of the length ofthe tube. The way to weave such double and single fabrics is wellunderstood by weavers. For a catamenial bandage it will be suitable ifeach tubular or double part of the fabric measures from three to fourinches from side to side. For other uses they may be wider. Theintervening strips of narrow fabric may be conveniently about one inchin width. These portions of the fabric are denser than the tubularparts. I afterward divide the cloth from end to end through the singlefabric, thus separating the tubes, and each tube I turn inside out. Ibleach the fabric after weaving, and so render the cloth absorbent. Ithen fill the tubes with fibrous material of an absorbent nature.Bleached cotton in the sliver is suitable. For catamenial bandages Iprefer to provide two or more layers-one absorbent and the other lesssothe layer on the inner side being, say, of bleached cotton and thelayer on the outer side of unbleached cotton.

tube to the length of several yards can be accumulated upon it, and theslivers to fill the tube can pass freely through its interior. The

fibrous filling is put through the guide, and as it emerges the fabricis drawn forward with it off the exterior of the guide. For makingcatamenial bandages the tube thus filled is cut into lengths of fromnine to twelve inches each, suitable to form the pad for a bandage, andand these are attached by sewing to a band,

the ends of the tube being at the same time closed. This band is bypreference woven with alternate strips, single and double. The doubleparts receive tapes, by which the bandage is supported. The band for thecatamenial bandage is of a length to project beyond the end of the padabout six to twelve inches at either end. The double or tubular portionthrough which the tape is to be passed commencesat about one inch fromthe extremity of the band, and is of a width of about one and a quarterinch. The band may be in one long length and extend along the pad, or itmay be in two short lengths. In either case the pad is sewed by its endsto the band, and the sewing closes the ends of the external tube of thepad.

In weaving the tubes I sometimes beat up the cloth closer at intervalswhere the tube is cut through to divide it into lengths. In this way Imake at intervals bands in which the fabric is solid, whereas elsewhere,as already stated, it is of an open gauze-like texture. So I obtain afirmer fabric for sewing in closing the pads at the ends and attachingthem to the bands; or I can make the back of the tube stouter and closerthan the front by introdue ing more Warp and weft.

In the annexed drawings, Figure l is a plan of the fabric as it is wovenin the 100th. Fig. 2 is an end view to a larger scale of one of thetubular strips. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 4 is an endelevation, of the filling-guide. Fig. 5 is a plan, and Fig. 6 is a sideelevation, of a completed catamenial banda e.

In Fig. 1 in the strips a a the fabric is sin gle, while in thestrips 1) b it is double. It is divided into separate tubes along themiddle of the strips. Along the strips 0 c the weft of the fabric isbeaten up closer. It is through these strips that the tubular strips,after filling with fibrous material, are divided transversely. Thetubular strip I), having been turned inside out, as in Fig. 2, is passedonto the outside of the fillingguide, Figs. 3 and 4, which is longenough to receive a strip several yards long. .The filling isin the formof slivers. It is passed through the interior of the guide,/and is drawnforward by hand while the strip is passed off the tube.

In Figs. 5 and 6, dis the pad composed of a length cut from the tubularstrip after filling, and e e is the band connected with the pad bysewing, which at the same time closes the end of the pad. The band iswoven double at e e, and tapes for attaching it are passed through.

' I clairn- 1. The processfor producing bandages, con- WILLIAM BR'ADBURYROBINSON.

Witnesses:

WALTER JAMES SKERTEN, HERBERT E. DALE,

Both of N0. 17 Gracechurch Street, London.

